Archives

Red Hook Night Criterium-March 28th

This has been updated. Dave August’s Red Hook Brooklyn Night Criterium is Saturday, March 28th.

Here is a bunch of info on the race:
Date: March 28th, 2009
Registration: 9:00 pm at 65 Dikeman
Race Start: 11:00 pm (pre race meeting at 65 Dikeman at 10:45pm)
Entry Fee: $10
Prizes: $300 1st
$150 2nd
$50 3rd
This race can best be described as a hybrid street criterium and caters to the strange half-breed racer type that is a combination of glory chasing scenester and ultra competitive road racing athlete.

The .75 mile 10 turn course in Red Hook is tight, twisty and dangerous. The course is haphazardly closed (with volunteer street marshals) and lighting is dim at best. A fast cobblestone hairpin requires teeth chattering grit to transverse smoothly and a wide open and brightly lit finishing straight offers a perfect runway for a chaotic sprint finish. In order to do well in this race youâ€™ll need street tuned handling mechanics and an engine to match. Brakeless fixed gear bikes are required (as are helmets). Gearing is recommended to be somewhere between 85 and 90 gear inches. Lapped riders will be allowed to stay in the race but will be shown a blue flag when the leaders are approaching and must get out of the way. The finish will be video tapped for accuracy and scoring provided for at least 25 places. I will also be posting a chart with a run down of each lap time. The entry fee is $10.

Last year the race had 25 entries and 5 made it to the end to contest the sprint. Kacey Manderfield made good on her trash talking and dusted the field in the final sprint. A former national collegiate champion and a current National track champion she played her cards perfectly. She is rumored to be returning to defend her title. I (the race organizer) finished 2nd last year barely squeezing out Shusaku in the final sprint. Young prodigy Cooper Ray was 4th and ever imposing Prentiss 5th.

This year the competition is expected to upgrade. Many top local road and track racers will see if they can control their brakeless track bikes and compete with the best street racers. I will be compiling and updating a list of confirmed race entrees in the run up the event. The prize for first place is $300 cash ($150 for 2nd and $50 for 3rd).

The race will be 30 minutes plus 3 laps. The final race course design will posted in the next week. I am expecting a tighter and more technical layout which will include the same cobblestone stretch on Columbia St but avoiding the highly residential street of Dikeman. There will be (3) primes. One at the end of the first lap, one at the end of the halfway mark and one with 3 laps to go. The prizes for the primes will include homemade granola and booze. There will be a bell indicating primes as well as a board counting down the laps with 5 to go (based of a time calculation to determine how many laps the race will be).
Race registration starts at 9 pm. The race itself starts at 11:00 pm. Awards will immediately follow the race at 65 Dikeman in conjunction with my annual birthday party.
This race will be excellent for spectators and photographers as most of the course is visible from the start/finish line and fast lap times will be around 2 and a half minutes.